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Gratifications and Challenges of Banks Adoption of Social Media Advertising

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DOI: 10.7176/NMMC/98-03

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New Media and Mass Communication www.iiste.org
ISSN 2224-3267 (Paper) ISSN 2224-3275 (Online)
Vol.98, 2021

Gratifications and Challenges of Banks Adoption of Social Media

Advertising Tool
Okaiyeto, Simon Ayodele1 Alade, Ngbede2 Linus, Mun Ngantem2
1.Mass Communication Department, Salem University, Lokoja, Nigeria
2.Mass Communication Department, Taraba State Polytechnic, Suntai, Nigeria

Abstract
The study looks into how Nigerian banks use social media advertising and what they get out of it. The study's
objectives were to investigate First Bank Nigeria's social media advertising trends and determine the benefits and
drawbacks of using social media advertising. The study used a quantitative and qualitative research design that
was based on the diffusion of innovation theory. The study's quantitative component focused on descriptive and
inferential analyses of the bank's social media platforms, as well as answers from respondents (bank employees
and customers), while the qualitative component focused on a textual analysis of the social media advertisements.
First Bank used a number of internet advertising resources, according to the report (social media inclusive). The
findings suggest that social media is simple to use and understand, that it attracts customers' attention to products
and services, that it provides an instant feedback mechanism, and that it helps the bank save money. Social
media has a broad reach, ensures audience target efficiency, and delivers fun. The strength of social media bank
adverts is that they encourage practitioners to work more efficiently by providing rapid feedback, having a broad
reach, and being simple to use. The issues of trust management, control, technical knowledge, identity
management, unrestricted audience, irreversible information, and crisis communications, on the other hand, are
challenging for bank social media usage. On the subject of social media issues, banks advertisers are expected to
be aware of the areas that may be addressed, such as preventing unethical and anonymous individuals from
accessing their platform. Furthermore, only reputable and trustworthy material should be allowed on social
media.
Keywords: Advertising, Banks, Challenges, Social Media, Uses and Gratifications
DOI: 10.7176/NMMC/98-03
Publication date:September 30th 2021

Introduction
Media are central to the practice of advertising from the antiquated period to recent time (Broom, 2009). Today,
people find themselves surrounded by a variety of media or communication channels. First, there are the
traditional media, such as print, radio and television. While these are proven methods of communication,
traditional media lack interactive capabilities. Then, there is the Internet, which has dramatically changed the
way society operates. The media of each epoch of the society changes the practice of advertising (Dominick,
2009).
The introduction of new methods of communication always modifies how people receive messages and the
Internet is no different (National Archives, 2013). Internet revolutionises the way people shop, pays bills,
communicate, etc. Almost anything people want to know or do is virtually at their fingertips. A relatively recent
aspect of the Internet is social media. With the emergence of social media, such as blogs and social networking
sites, the Internet becomes even more interpersonal and a means in which instantaneous communication thrives.
These have had a dramatic impact on the day-to-day activities of advertising practice. With each technology
there has been much research into their effects and how they can be used to enhance marketing (Hill & White,
2000; Porter & Sallot, 2005). The introduction of social media platforms, where networked communities of
individuals, groups and organizations communicate online on a one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many basis
(Lieuvrow & Livingstone, 2006), has again transformed advertising practice and has also made way for the
adoption of the two-way symmetrical model as a formal definition of best form of advertising in which the
advertising interest directly with the customer. These online tools fit in well with ideal advertising strategies that
provide conditions necessary for stimulating dialogue and measuring effect immediately. Consequently, some
researchers have explored ways in which social media can be used for brand building and reputation
management, customer relationship management, market research advertising and PR campaign (Nwaeze, 2015,
Hart, 2010)
For example, Bruhn, Schoenmueller and Schäfer’s (2012) online-survey of three distinct industries- tourism,
telecommunication, and pharmaceuticals- examined the comparative effect of brand communication on brand
equity through social media, in contrast to traditional media. They found that communication by organizations
through social media affected brand perception significantly. Undoubtedly, branding has implications on
customer relationship management, and scholars have attempted to explore how social media can be used in
managing relationships with customers. Regarding customer relationship management, Baird and Parasnis (2011)

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carried out two online surveys, firstly with 1,056 customers in America, Europe and Asia, and secondly on 351
business executives in similar locations. From their findings, they argued that organizations that embrace a more
social form of customer relationship management are likely to create increasingly cooperative and valuable
experiences with customers.
Since the introduction of Facebook and Twitter, a growing number of commercial organisations (banks) are
embracing them as part of their marketing strategy. They have seemingly discovered the potential of the social
media in promoting customer relations and increasing product patronage. Despite the merits of the new media
over traditional media, scholars still believe it has some challenges that still make traditional media the best
source of information. Anthony and Ogidi (2016) also criticise that the new media does not have credibility
especially in terms of how they are being accessed and used, they cannot be subjected to any form of check and
censorship, as traditional media is checked and censored. Among that challenges of social media to organizations
that adopt it, Okaiyeto and Ottah (2021) study found that the issue of trust, identity, control, technical knowledge
and crisis control are hampering the successful integration of social media in professionalism. This means that
the contents of the new media not being able to be regulated makes it really hard for information on it to be
regarded as authentic as anybody that has internet access can decide to upload content on it without any
regulation body checking such contents.
In highlighting the merits of traditional media over new media, both scholars explained further that on the
other hand, the traditional media has since inception played pivotal roles in the global polity as they help to
gather, collate, frame and disseminate news and information contents to the masses wherever they might be for
as long as the medium’s signal is available (Anthony & Ogidi, 2016). Also, because of the traditional media’s
accessibility, advertisers have continued to patronize it for the placement of their marketing and advertisement
messages. The essence has been to reach as many consumers as possible and within the shortest time frame.
Radio, television and newspapers, among others have been the traditional media platforms that have been
engaged by marketers and advertisers to get the far-flung heterogeneous mass audience informed about their
various goods and services. This means traditional media will always be reckoned with no matter the level of
advancement in technology, this is as a result of the success advertisers have been able to achieve with it in terms
of the results of their campaign.
Nevertheless, as social media continues to grow in usage, studies that explore the application of social
media for organizational-advertising remain scanty (Nyekwere, Kur & Nyekwere, 2013; Oluwatolani, Joshua &
Philip, 2011). Also, the use of social media platforms, particularly Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as a tool for
advertising and how these relationships are evaluated seem hazy, as most organizations underutilize the
technology (Lovejoy, Waters & Saxton, 2012) especially in the Nigerian context.
New media have so many roles in the banking industries, not only the banking industry but in every
organization, which allows easy relationship between the customers to the organization and the organization
itself, it also help to facilitate the productivity capacity of the organization.
Being that social media are a new form of advertising platforms and are still evolving in Nigeria, it is
unknown on the level at which First Bank is using social media advertising and the effectiveness of adopting the
medium for advertising. The general objective of this study is to investigate the uses of social media advertising
by First Bank of Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study include: To investigate the patterns of social media
advertising by First Bank Nigeria; To examine the gratifications derived from using social media for advertising
by First Bank; and to find out the challenges of social media advertising by Banks.

Literature Review
Few studies have been done in Africa on banks embracing social media advertising ( Adeola, 2016; Eleboda and
Majekodunmi, 2015; Oluwatolani, Joshua & Philip, 2011 ), but more studies have been done in Europe, America,
and Asia on the subject (Chanda & Zaorski, 2013; Veenswyk, 2013). Veenswyk (2013) also indicated that banks
are taking advantage of social media's possibilities.
Chanda and Zaorski (2013) investigate the use of social media in the financial services industry from a
conceptual standpoint. They noted that the financial services industry uses social media extensively, and that this
trend is likely to continue as social networks expand and become more established in the public's online
consciousness. However, due to regulatory worries, the industry has lagged behind its corporate colleagues.
Regulatory concerns or uncertainty, in the authors' opinion, should not lead to paralysis, but rather should be
considered in the context of a financial services firm's intended use of social media. Companies that have a
defined business goal in mind will not only be more productive in their online interactions, but they will also be
more aware of the hazards. The authors outline four primary reasons why financial services organizations might
use social media, as well as the challenges to be aware of and potential pitfalls to avoid.
The study by Nyekwere, Kur, and Nyekwere (2013) looked into citizens of Port Harcourt, Nigeria's
awareness and use of social media in advertising. Despite the difficulties associated with its utilization, they
discovered that social media is a good medium for advertising. It was also shown that customers buy

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items/services offered on social media primarily because of recommendations/referrals from trustworthy sources
- their friends - and because their necessity for such products dictated their purchase.
Adeola (2016), on the other hand, investigates whether the new media marketing notion as a new business
philosophy has been successfully applied in the banking industry. The research is based on data acquired from
both primary and secondary sources. The study's sample is derived from First Bank of Nigeria. The chi-square
method of data analysis was used to analyze the data for the study. According to the findings of the study,
marketing activities have played a significant part in the financial sector's development endeavor.
Eleboda and Majekodunmi (2015) analyze the increased adoption of social media advertising among
financial services providers, notably banks, in Nigeria, which is closely related to this study. They highlighted
that social media advertising has gained traction as a tool for reaching out to the society's "computer-savvy"
youth. As a relatively new marketing tool, it has provided businesses with a platform that allows them to better
understand and communicate with their customers and prospects in ways that were previously impossible. That it
has acquired traction as a tool for reaching out to society's "computer-savvy" youth. As a relatively new
marketing tool, it has provided businesses with a platform that allows them to better understand and
communicate with their customers and prospects in ways that were previously impossible. Due to young people's
great capacity to discern and reject marketing messages that lack credibility, the youth market is considered as a
challenging demographic to connect with and sell to, as proven in the literature. A self-administered
questionnaire was used to obtain primary data for the study. Using a multistage selection technique, a random
sample of 110 respondents, mostly students, was recruited from six higher institutions in Nigeria's Ogun State.
Only 93 (84.5%) of the 110 copies of the questionnaire issued were returned. The data was examined using
descriptive and inferential statistics, as well as regression analysis. The findings suggest that SMA has an impact
on youth shopping behavior, including liking, interest, and actual purchases. This means that Nigerian youths are
responding to SMA and will likely respond even more strongly in the future, as the coefficient of youth buying
behavior is 2.31 (P0.05), implying that every unit of SMA effort will result in a 2.31 unit change in youth buying
behavior, all other factors being equal.
It is clear from the above assessment that there is a substantial quantity of material on the subject of banks
embracing news media. However, most of the existing bank research on social media advertising concentrated
on Western countries, presumably because they dominate the global media scene; however, Asian countries are
beginning to provide studies. African studies (Nigeria) are a relatively new development. However, as evidenced
by the research, scholars agree that social media advertising is gaining center stage in marketing. While the
findings of these studies show that banks are increasingly adopting social media advertising, there are only a few
skeletal sources in the existing literature on the use of social media advertising by old generation banks like First
Bank, confirming the analytical gap that this study aims to fill.

Theoretical Framework
This research is based on the notion of Uses and Gratification. Elihu Katz, Jay Blumler, and Michael Gurevitch
first proposed the Uses and Gratification Theory in 1974. “The idea was established to explain why viewers
actively and purposefully seek out kinds of content that give them with information that they need, like, and
utilize, rather than passively waiting for media messages to arrive” ( Kur, 2003, p.34). According to Folarin
(2005, p. 65), the theory views the recipient of media messages as actively influencing the effect process; he
selects, attends to, perceives, and retains media messages based on his wants and beliefs. This means that
"members of the public will actively select and employ specific forms of media content to fulfill their wants and
give gratifications of their interests and reasons" (Defleur & Dennis) (1994, p. 559).
The media consumer's point of view is taken into account in the uses and gratifications standpoint. It
investigates how people utilize the media, as well as the enjoyment they seek and receive from it. Audience
members are aware of and can express their motivations for consuming diverse media information, according to
the uses and gratifications researchers (Wimmer & Dominick 2014, p. 403).
As a result, when used in this study, social media allows for involvement because it allows advertisers and
customers to communicate with one another on a one-on-one basis. The assumption is that banks that use social
media are active because they build a Facebook page or a Twitter account of their own volition. Rather than
relying on other sources, the banks choose to use social media to achieve their objectives. Basically, the banks
create a Facebook or Twitter account for a specific purpose. That is, the requirement to communicate with
customers in order to market a product or service. For other users, it could be a want to interact interpersonally
with friends, a desire to patronize a product/service advertised on those social platforms, or simply a desire to
learn more about an organization they are interested in.

Methodology
Both a quantitative and qualitative research design was used in this study. The quantitative analysis focused on
the descriptive and inferential analysis of the bank's social media platforms as well as replies from respondents

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(bank employees and customers). The qualitative research allows the researcher to describe the types of products
First Bank advertises on social media. We looked at the content on First Bank's Twitter, Facebook, and
Instagram profiles in Nigeria. The advertising items on the banks' Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram profiles
(Content categories: Audio Visuals, Written Texts, and Pictorial Resources) serve as the unit of analysis. For
both pilot and final coding, inter-coder reliability was greater than 0.70. After the pilot test, no items were
removed. In the end, each media item from the pilot study was kept for the final study.
In order to complete the survey, letters were addressed to bank managers to obtain an accurate number of
bank customers in order to calculate the population for this study, but they were denied on the grounds that such
information is confidential and cannot be released. Alternatively, a sample frame was determined by counting
the number of staff/customers who came into the banking hall for transactions on the 8th, 12th, 15th, and 19th of
March 2019, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 12 noon, at two branches of each selected bank in Ilorin.
Table 1: Sample Frame based on researchers visits to banks
Bank Branch Time of visit No. of bank Staff/Customers Date
FBN Unilorin 10 am - 12 noon 73 Monday 8th
FBN Unity 8 am – 10 am 212 Friday19th
Total 285
Source: Researchers field work 2019
A sample frame was built based on the aforementioned data by observing the average number of clients
who visited the bank on the observed days. There were 1191 clients in total in the sampling frame. Based on a 95
percent confidence level and a 0.05 significant level, the total number of customers necessary was 280,
according to Krejcie & Morgan's 2006 Small Sample Technique chart. The questionnaire is divided into three
sections: Section 1: this section dealt with the demographic data of the respondents, such as their age, gender,
level of education, and bank category. Section 2: this section inquired about the pattern of social media
advertising aspects of banks' websites and social networking sites, such as frequency of usage, purpose of use,
frequency of visits, and time spent while using. Section 3: this section inquired about the gratification for banks'
usage of social media for marketing purposes and Section 4 is all about the challenges banks experience using
social media. A reliability test utilizing Cronbach's alpha coefficient indicated a minimum of 0.70 for the scales.

Results
Demographic Variables of the Respondents
On the average, the respondents of this study are 30 years old (M= 30.06, SD=11.12). Those within the age of
18-25 years old form the bulk of the respondents. They account for half (50.4%) of the total respondents. This
was followed by those between the ages of 26 and 50 years which represents 43.3% of the respondents and the
working class group, while those above 50 years old are the least age group, they represents 6.3% of the
respondents and the elderly. Females represented 54.5 percent of respondents while the other 45.5 percent were
males.

Patterns of Social Media Use

The Content Analysis provide answers to research question one – What are the patterns of advert presented on
First Bank Social Networking Sites?
This research questions looks at the advertisement attributes that are present on the banks' social networking
sites. First bank’s , Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages were examined. The unit of analysis was Sixteen (16)
items which represents media contents of the banks’ social media sites. These items are: Adverts and Media,
press statement, Video, Audio and Photo gallery, Blog pages, Live chat, Media contact, Download centers,
Annual reports, About us section, FAQ, Face Book pages, Instagram pages, Sitemap and Feed bank sections.
The items were analyzed for the five areas of social media advertising communication as present or not.
However, the items were re-coded into thematic group consisting of Audiovisuals adverts (daverts, news,
audio, video and blogs); Written text Resources (live chat, news, download centre, about us, contact us, FAQ,
annual report, feedback, complaint, media centers) and Pictorial Resources (Photos, Face Book post, Instagram
posts and sitemaps).
Table 2: Frequency of advertising Resources Commonly used on First Bank Social Networking Sites.
Dialogic Resources Frequency Percentage
Audiovisuals Adverts 20 32.2
Written Text Resources 12 19.4
Pictorial Resources 30 48.4
Total 62 100.0
Source:Researchers field work 2019
Advertising resources are extremely vital for the growth and survival of business organizations in today's
competitive world. In the banking sectors, advertisement resources affords bank the opportunity to deliver state

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of the art customer services to its customers while maintain the market competitiveness required for gaining
business. Hence, advertising pictorial resources occur the most with 48.4% which works in line with the
principle of usefulness of pictorial element during advertising.
Posted on it Facebook Page (Feb. 27, 107), First Bank attest the important of social media:
In the last few years, First Bank has rolled out some banking and lifestyle digital offerings such
as USSD banking service, online and mobile applications to boost convenience and ease of
banking for its customers as they are enabled to engage in banking transactions from the comfort
of their homes with the FirstMobile app and stay updated on the latest global trend from their
mobile phones using the FirstBank LOOP – a lifestyle app. The LOOP app provides premium
content from across the world delivered right to mobile phones. Contents include Technology &
Gadgets, The Economy, Luxury Goods, Health, Entertainment, Business, Life & Travel, Sports,
Shopping and more. LOOP ensures that customers are the first to know about the topics and events
that matter most to them. FirstBank customers can now enjoy enhanced digital experience just
with their mobile phones.With FirstMobile app, customers can conveniently pay bills, buy airtime
and do money transfers of up to N500,000 (Five hundred thousand naira to any banks without the
need for a token and up to a daily limit of 1million naira using their mobile phones anywhere,
anytime .
Audiovisuals advertising material affords the visitors opportunity to have an in-depth knowledge about the
activities of the bank, it products and services occurred second most often at 32.2%, to support this, a study by
Efma and Vidyo (2016) found that 70% of customers prefer video banking on mobiles and desktops over making
the journey to a branch, or even simple account and balance enquiries in person at an ATM; as such social media
is adding the banks to adverts their online banking. Hence, the use of news and audiovisuals empowers both
employees and customers to take matters into their own hands, making banking efficient and easy.
Below is a Facebook Posts on adverts about how digitization could really makes clients banking activities
very much convenient:

The influence of social media in marketing and advertising cannot be overemphasized. Financial
organizations can use social media as a key component of their customer service initiatives. Research has
indicated that social media is the most cost-effective channel for delivering customer service. However, the
result shows that selected banks have not fully inputted Social media pictorial advertising resources into their
social media sites hence, the low occurrence of 29.3%. First Bank have cease the opportunity social media
provides to financial institutions in making banking much efficient and customer’s friendly.

Nature of the Advert Message

Along with the observation of general advertising contents of First bank social media pages(Facebook, Twitter
and Instagram). Advertising resources was selected and analyzed for the purpose of investigating the nature of
the advert messages. Each media item was coded for “yes” or “no” of the attributes of each of the adverts
message pattern. Table 3 presents frequency and percentage of each attribute.

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Table 3: Advert Message Contents

Yes No Total
Dialogic Loop F % F % F %
Content is a post that doesn’t warrant response 18 29.0 52 71.0 62 100.0
Content of the item poses a question to stimulate dialogue 15 24.2 47 75.8 62 100.0
Content is interactive 9 14.5 53 85.5 62 100.0
Request for further comments 15 24.2 47 75.8 62 100.0
Direct response to question or comment 10 16.1 44 83.9 54 100.0

Source: Researchers field work 2019

The attributes of the adverts includes providing customers the opportunity to respond, and then by the
organization responding to comments, complaints, and questions. The results as shown above shows that, First
bank adverts resources are stimulate dialogue most frequently (29.0%), the contents are interactive (24.2%). To
complete dialogic loop banks request for further comments (29.0%) more than giving direct response to question
and comments (14.5%). The results show that banks are yet to grasp the full impact of interactive adverts in
improving bank customers relations

Through post on Facebook and twit on Twitter, First Bank is able to interact with it clients and customers
across the world directly. Thus, any new innovation introduced by the bank is brought to the knowledge of the
clients. Also, clients are being enlightened through the social media.
Social media enables immediate conversation in real-time. Social media one of the reason why is timeliness,
timeliness in essence, as you are doing the programme or activity, immediately you are reaching the target public
and immediately your activity is been seen all over the world, so is faster and you don’t have to, unlike the
mainstream media.
Table 4: Usefulness of Information
Yes No Total
Usefulness of information F % F % F %
Useful to customers and visitors 56 90.3 6 9.7 62 100.0
Information on Banks product and services 35 56.5 27 43.5 62 100.0
Bank logo 53 85.5 9 14.5 62 100.0
Description & overview of bank 22 35.5 40 35.5 62 100.0
Provides persuasive information 55 88.7 7 11.3 62 100.0
Item is convincing 57 91.3 5 8.7 62 100.0
Marketing a product or service 60 96.7 2 3.3 62 100.0
Source: Researchers field work 2019
Social media facilitates First Bank interactive, symmetrical, multi-dimensional dialogue building and
managing of relationships with it publics. This study finds that social media have the potentials of speed,
interactivity, ubiquity, multimedia advantage and accessibility capacities. Therefore, social media is significantly
useful to enhance the practice of advertising in Nigeria financial institution specifically and the world at large

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The principle of usefulness of advertising is meant to provide information to the consumers that will help
them answer their questions and make them more informed such as information about products, services,
additional items the bank offers is also included in usefulness (Rybalko & Seltzer 2010). Table 4 presents an
analysis of attributes of useful advertising information. Overall, 90.3% of the information placed on banks
website is accessed to be useful to customers and visitors. Other attribute of the usefulness of information
includes bank logo which is 85.5% present. Media contents being analyzed only gives 56.5 % ample information
on banks product and services as well as less description and overview of the bank which stands at 35.5%. For
persuasive information, 88.7% of the adverts messages are meant to convince the customers. Also, the usefulness
of the advert is that 96.7% is meant to market the banks products or services.

Social media works with speed in terms of immediacy possibility in communication process. With the
above post, it is obvious that when the organization send information on the social media, the tendency of getting
the feedback immediate is there and that is the benefit. What makes First Bank to offer 24-hour service is

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because of social media speed edge and the ability to work in real-time.
Also, social media is readily accessible to both the bank and it public. Social media is cheap, easy to use
and can be access by all with smart phones to even large internet facilitator like ICT. Now With the social media
on list of media at audience disposition, the distinguishing feature of new media is interactivity, which describes
the ability of users to provide content in response to a source or communication partner (Quan-Haase & Young,
2010).
Table 5: Generation of Return visits
Yes No Total
Generation of Return visits F % F % F %
Users can like, share or comment on post 19 30.6 43 69.4 62 100.0
Update information within 30 days 25 40.3 37 59.7 62 100.0
Explicit invitation to return 17 27.4 45 72.6 62 100.0
Contest and games 6 9.7 56 90.3 62 100.0
Source: Researchers field work 2019
Generation of return visit is another attributes of social media advertisements. Attribute of this principle
includes asking customers to “share, like or comment” on post, update of information within 30 days, explicit
invitation to customers to return, contest and challenges etc. table 4.4c shows a very low percentage for contest
and games (9.7%), explicit invitation to return (27.4%), prompt for users to like, share or comment on post is
30.6% while regular update of information within 30days of post is 40.3%. the result reveals poor use of this
dialogic feature. This finding contrasts with the findings of Waters and Tindall (2010) that US churches were
able to incorporate dialogic features that encouraged return visits (i.e. encouraging visitors to return, updating
news items and providing information about the churches).

One of the greatest benefits is immediate feedback, immediate feedback and then immediate feedback this
immediate feedbacks covers everything one, you know whether your message was important wither message

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was able wither it was efficiently, it gives on the spot feedback which the traditional media cannot.
Timeliness, speed, interactivity and currency as the hallmark of financial institutions engaging on social
media use. Thus, social media do connect the organization with the public and the media simultaneously. This
will invariably contribute to the organization provision of massages to clarify issues in the eyes of both the
public and the media. So, with social media there will be dialogic communication between organization external
and internal publics.
Table 6: Conservation of visitors
Yes No Total
Conservation of visitors F % F % F %
Item can be easily downloaded 29 46.8 33 53.2 62 100.0
Links to social media pages / websites 20 32.3 42 67.7 62 100.0
Public information 47 75.8 15 24.2 62 100.0
Link to bank product and services 42 67.7 20 32.3 62 100.0
Source: Researchers field work 2019
The fourth social media advertising edge is the conservation of visitors. This attribute was shown within the
media resources used by banks on their website and social networking sites allowing the customers to download
the content, provide information that is more beneficial to the public, allow links to bank products and providing
links to their website or other social media pages. The table above shows that the 75.8% of information passed
by the banks are usually public information. Links to product and services appeared more (67.7 %) than links to
the bank’s own website or other social media pages (32.3%), media items that can be easily downloaded
appeared at 46.8%.
Thus, social media provides lots of information to clients. The post below depict the kind of advertising
images First Bank do post on it page.

It cost effective to utilize social media for advertising and providing valid information about the bank to the
public. To establish social media platform groups in which the Bank will be engaging it public is very cost effect
compared to the usual use of mainstream media in the conventional way. To attest this, the post above shows that
social media is easy to use, targets more specific audiences, cheaper to use therefore more cost effective
compared with mainstream media.
Table 7: Ease of Interface
Yes No Total
Ease of Interface F % F % F %
Item is easily accessible 55 88.7 7 11.3 62 100.0
Available on the sitemap 53 85.5 9 14.5 62 100.0
Graphic reliance 35 56.5 27 43.5 62 100.0
Visible Navigation 15 24.2 47 75.8 62 100.0
Source: Researchers field work 2019
In regard to the ease of interface principle, 88.7 % of the items are easily accessible customers while 85.5%
of the items are available on the sitemap. Over half of the media Resource contents (56.5%) are graphic reliance
and only 24.2% of the items contain visible navigation. This show that attribute of ease of interface are very well
pronounced in First Bank social media sites. The features make it easier for visitors to surf around the website.
This confirms the findings of Cho and Huh (2010) on user-friendly features of corporate blogs enabling easy
navigation.

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Survey was used to answer Research Question Two – What are the gratifications derived from using social
media for advertising by First Bank? The objective was to know the benefits First Bank derived from social
media advertising. Staff and customers agreed that First Bank use of social networking site for advertising
provides the bank with good opportunity to engage with the public positively. Table 8 presents the result
Table 8: Gratifications Derived from Social Media Advertising
Gratifications Level of Agreement (%) Over
1 2 3 4 5 M SD all %
Provide instant feedback mechanism 5.6 10.8 23.1 36.2 24.3 3.63 1.92 72.6
Gives provision for banks monitoring trends 7.5 11.6 22.0 44.8 14.2 3.47 1.10 69.4
Wide reach enablement 5.6 10.5 22.9 39.1 21.8 3.61 1.11 72.2
Social media is easy to use and user friendly 4.9 6.0 12.3 54.5 22.4 3.84 1.00 76.8
Draw customers attention to products and services 6.3 6.7 27.3 39.0 20.6 3.61 1.08 72.2
Ensure audience target efficiency 5.7 9.4 34.0 35.8 15.1 3.45 1.04 69.0
Social media promote cost effectiveness for the bank 4.1 6.4 25.1 50.2 14.2 3.64 0.95 72.8
Social media advert provide source of entertainment to 14.9 13.8 29.1 34.3 7.8 3.06 1.18 61.2
customers
Total 3.63 1.24 72.6

Source:Researchers field work 2019

*Scale: 1=Strongly Disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Slightly Agree, 4=Agree, 5=Strongly Agree
(1-20%) (21-40%) (41-60%) (61-80%) (81-100%)
Overall respondent perceived the bank adverts on social media sites as being beneficial (M = 3.63, SD =
1.24). The potential of advertising is the extent information appeals to stakeholders and wider customers. In the
hopes to fulfill their information needs and information seeking habits, the following features were observed on
the study banks’ social media pages; direct links to the organizations official website and other social media
pages, visible pictures, photos, videos, information on banks product and service and overview of the bank.
Results from table 4.6 shows that social media is easy to use and user friendly (M=3.84, SD=1.00); draw
customers attention to products and services (M=3.61, SD=1.08); Provide instant feedback mechanism (M=3.63,
SD=1.92) as well as media promote cost effectiveness for the bank (M=3.64, SD=1.10). Also features it provides
wide reach enablement (M=3.61, SD=1.11) and are fully utilized. It is worth noting that utilization of social
media is cost effective for the bank and customers (M= 3.59, SD=1.05), ensures audience target efficiency
(M=3.45, SD=1.04) as it equally provide source of entertainment to customers ( M=3.06, SD=1.18 ).
Lee (2014) says that social media are also attractive to advertisers because of the relatively low cost of
reaching consumers, the potential for greater efficiency, and the ability to engage in more timely and direct-
contact communication than is offered by most traditional media tools (Choi, 2011; Muntinga et al, 2011).
Social media advertising usually centre on efforts to create content that attracts attention and encourages
readers to share it with their social networks. As Corruthers, (2010) pointed out that A corporate message
spreads from user to user and presumably resonates because it is coming from a trusted source, as opposed to the
brand or company itself. Social media have become a platform that is easily accessible to anyone with Internet
access, opening doors for organisations to increase their brand awareness and facilitate conversations with the
customer.
Table 9: Pearson’s Correlation between Patterns motives for social media advertising and gratifications from
social media advertising
Correlations
Motives for social media adverts & r N P
Gratifications from social media adverts
.528 246 .000
Source:Researchers field work 2018
The result of Pearson Movement Correlation Coefficient (PMCC) for the two variables (Motives for social
media advertising and gratifications form social media advertising) reveals positive and significant relationship
(r = .528, N = 246, p =.000).
This result is in congruence with Veenswyk (2013) study which identifies that banks are leveraging on the
potentials of social media for advertising their products and services and also connecting directly in real-time
with their customers . Hence, First Bank social media advertising have significant positive relationship with
gratification derived from social media advertising
Research Question Three – What are the challenges of social media advertising by First Bank Nigeria? The
objective is to point out the possible challenges the new advertising innovation is posing for banks as they adopt
social media for their advertising. Lee (2014) study found that engaging with the public is a major challenge in
social media advertising. This study also enumerated staff and customers perception on the challenges of social

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media advertising as the result is presented in table 10.

Table 10. Challenges of Social Media Advertising for Bank
Challenges Level of Agreement (%) Over
2 3 4 5 M SD All
Accessibility 25.0 25.4 24.3 14.6 10.8 2.61 1.30 52.2
Unrestricted audience 15.0 17.6 23.6 30.0 13.9 3.10 1.28 62.0
Control of the platform 11.9 17.5 19.4 31.3 19.8 3.29 1.30 65.8
Irreversible information 17.5 16.8 22.0 30.2 13.4 3.05 1.31 61.0
Fragmentation of customers 26.1 20.5 23.5 20.1 9.7 2.67 1.32 52.2
Total 2.94 1.30 58.8

Source:Researchers field work 2019

*Scale: 1=Very Little, 2=A Little, 3=Somewhat Much, 4=Much, 5=Very much
(1-20%) (21-40%) (41-60%) (61-80%) (81-100%)
From the above result, the two statements that recorded low scores are accessibility of banks social media
sites (M=2.61, SD=1.30) and fragmentation of customers which makes ability to control and modify the form of
content of interaction in real (M=2.67, SD=1.32). The implication of these is that, customers are allowed access,
only to few items that can be modified on the Banks website or social media pages, for the most part, the layout
and design of the pages are limited to small modifications. However, it is certain that control of social media is
difficult (M=3.29, SD=1.30), Also, audience of social media are unrestricted ( M= 3.10, 1.28 ) and irreversible
information (M=3.05, SD=1.31). Overall, there is an agreement level of (M=2.94, SD=1.30) which means that
there are challenges in the use of social media for advertising by banks.
The negative aspect of social media has been a challenge to advertisers, especially when it comes to the
issue of controlling the unrestricted flow of audience. Also, another issue is the issue of irreversible information.
Any posted comment will go viral in a click. Informant 3 a staff captures it:
Negative aspect right now is not regulated recently you see an increased in fake news, it has
become something like trauma to the social media so there is no control yet, there is no
universal mechanism controlling social media so people are able to dis-inform people, they are
able to mail in people, they are able to slander people and so on and so forth, and to propagates
fake or inaugurate news, as opposed traditional media, when you had a fact technic system is
verification you had the gatekeeper the editor who will verify checks and traditional media are
controlled by excepting time texted principle of journalism is it fair, is it truthful, is it balance,
is it accurate, you know of those who apply social media so this are the disadvantages of social
media, lack of control essentially.
Because entering into social media is very easy and flexible, it makes organization to find it difficult in
controlling the flow of entering. Sometimes they just have to maintain close group.
One of the major challenges of banks using social media for advertising is the inability to have control.
Informants noted that the continues spread of unverified information, slander, deliberate falsehood, hackers
which is difficult to control post a serious challenge to banks in managing internal and external crisis.
Respondents have observed that to identify the original identity of sources of information online is a
difficult task for banks social media page managers. This becomes more complicated when it is an anonymous
source
As social media exposes banks to internal and external crises; so makes the company finds it difficult in
managing crisis. Because of the difficulty in controlling information on social media, managing organization
crisis become more difficult. The speed at which information spread online; makes any false or misinformation
ideas reach the public in seconds.
Other challenges social media advert brings to banks are: Dealing with Network navy (transparency,
disclosure, responsibility) are very hard to achieve on social media, Dealing with hoax information, dealing with
unrestricted audience, the issue of immediacy can sometimes be counterproductive, when it comes to managing
information. Respondents 16 for instance, illustrate that:
The negative aspect is just the word of mouth, you know when you speak the word,
immediately it comes out from your mouth you cannot take it back and the social media is like
that once you click and its gone and you just remembered that there’s something you need to
correct it’s gone it might too late, you know and one thing about it is that the traditional media
there is that it takes time to run, within that time there might be correction you need to make,
you would have make the correction but these one immediately.
Banks have being devising strategies of mitigating the challenges, among which are close monitoring,
verification of information, main trust to make sure that unwarranted content are constantly screen out from the
social media.

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Discussions
The gratifications First Bank derived from the use of social media advertising. is beneficial. The potential of
advertising is the extent information appeals to stakeholders and wider customers. In the hopes to fulfill their
information needs and information seeking habits, the following features were observed on the study banks’
social media pages; direct links to the organizations official website and other social media pages, visible
pictures, photos, videos, information on banks product and service and overview of the bank. Results shows that
social media is easy to use and user friendly; draw customers attention to products and services; Provide instant
feedback mechanism; as well as media promote cost effectiveness for the bank. Also features it provides wide
reach enablement and are fully utilized. It is worth noting that utilization of social media is cost effective for the
bank and customers, ensures audience target efficiency as it equally provide source of entertainment to
customers. Therefore, the strength of social media banks’ advertisements is that is makes practitioners work
efficient through instant feedback, wide reach and ease of usage.
Closely related to this study is the work of Eleboda and Majekodunmi (2015) investigates the growing
adoption of social media advertising among financial services providers, particularly banks, in Nigeria. They
equally found that banks in the country are fastly adopting social media in their operation.
In his empirical findings Lee, (2013) posits that advertising communication is traditionally thought of as
being one-way or two-way, but social media platforms allow multiple users to communicate simultaneously in
multiple directions as illustrated by the multi-directional communication model. That is, though social
networking sites provide organizations with a space to interact with key publics and to allow users to engage
with one another on topics of mutual interest; this should provide the ideal conditions necessary for stimulating
dialogic communication and facilitates feedback proactive measures (Bortree &Seltzer, 2009). This will bring
about forge of alliance between organization and it public.
The possible challenges hampering the successful use and gratifications for banks that adopt social media
platforms in facilitating adverting needs. The results show that; First Bank are face with the issue of trust,
identity, believability, competent, reliability, technical knowledge and control in the use of social media.
Though social media came with a huge promise to financial institutions just at it deed for or profession also,
but speed of the changes and the quest to adopt social media tools and its dynamics to organized profession such
as advertising has being a challenge. Thus, the spread of unverified information, slander, deliberate falsehood,
hackers and difficulty to control post a serious challenge in managing organization internal and external crisis
The speed of the changes and the quest to adopt social media tools and its dynamics to organized profession
such as advertising has being a challenge. The issue of trust management, control, technical knowledge, identity
management and crisis communications are problematic to the profession. Thus, unrestricted audience and
irreversible information are the major challenges to banks are facing using social media to improve their
professionalism practice.
One of the major challenges of advertisers using social media is the inability to have control as earlier
studies have confirmed. McCorkindale and Wright (2011) studies found that the most common challenge for
advertisers is the lack of control associated with social media and not knowing what people might say or do.
They noted that the continues spread of unverified information, slander, deliberate falsehood, hackers which is
difficult to control post a serious challenge to practitioners in managing internal and external crisis.

Conclusion
The results of these hypotheses revealed that the First Bank has embraced social media advertising in a big way.
Furthermore, there is a strong link between the pattern of social media advertising and First Bank's advertising
needs. It also confirms the hypothesis that First Bank social media advertising has a significant positive
association with social media advertising pleasure. Exploring the use of social media advertising among Nigerian
banks is vital in order to comprehend the revolutionary changes that new social media technologies have brought
to the profession of advertising in Nigeria and around the world. As the number of businesses that use social
media for marketing grows, evaluating how each of the numerous components of social media is used becomes
more important.
As a result, First Bank now has an appealing and well-designed website as well as social media pages that
have an easy-to-use interface and a high level of success. As a result, social media allows First Bank to market
its products and services to a group of people. Organizations can use social media to establish a virtual presence
in cyberspace as a tool to communicate their mission, products, and services to the rest of the world (Lee 2014).
When it comes to information transmission and exchange, such communications platforms differ from traditional
mass media in that they have the capacity for speed, efficiency, integration, and interactivity (Esrock & Leichty,
2000). These important activities include one-to-one communication via email, one-to-many communication via
websites and email, and many-to-many communication via websites, newsgroups, mailing lists, and now blogs
and social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook (Avlonitis and Karayanni, 2000). This is also a benefit of
First Bank's social media utilization.

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As a result, financial institutions can use social media to participate in interactive dialogue with their
customers, boosting effective comprehension.
Indeed, using social media advertising as an interactive medium for dialoguing with stakeholders has been
shown to be useful in the building and maintenance of successful partnerships (Waters and Tindall, 2010; Reber
and Kim, 2006), and banks are no exception. Banks spend millions of dollars on both offline and online image
construction and maintenance. As a result, banks must establish asynchronous communication relationships with
key stakeholders such as consumers, shareholders, government officials, and workers (Branco and Rodrigues,
2006). One of the keys to addressing the information needs of these many "publics" is for banks to communicate
with them properly. This is only possible if the organization has a working website that is updated on a regular
basis and allows the public to comment on the organization's discussion.

Limitations
One important limitation of this study was the period of time used in gathering the data. A lengthier period
would have revealed a greater depth of findings and also generated more insights leading to more reliable results
which could have been generalized.
Given the time constraints of this project, only one out of 19 commercial banks in Nigeria were examined.
The customers of this bank were also limited to Ilorin metropolis; a more comparative study would have
provided critical insights to the perception of other customers outside Ilorin. It would have also enabled better
representation and more valid generalization of the findings.
It is pertinent to state that banks have a discreet nature of not divulging sensitive information about their
scale of operation. Hence, getting the total population of banks customers was difficult due to a confidentiality
clause of not disclosing information regarding their bank’s customer strength. And, this has serve as a limiting
factor.

Recommendations
By examining the uses of social media advertising by First Bank, this study attempted to contribute to the
development of the diffusion of innovation and uses and gratification communication theories in the Nigerian
context. The findings of this study have invariably contributed to the cross cultural application as well as
extended the dialogic potential of new communication, thus Future studies could look into the interactive and
real-time medium's sustained importance for advertisers.
This report makes ideas for how bank executives might use technology to improve their client-customer
relationships. One area of priority is using the internet to communicate or disclose information to stakeholders,
and banks are right in the midst of it since competition in that business is severe. While developing a well-
rounded internet platform that scores highly on the five principles outlined in this study may be expensive in the
short term, the long-term benefits (i.e. the ability to disseminate information more cheaply and in a timely
manner) make it a worthwhile venture.
The necessity for two-way communication should be considered by bank image builders. It turned out that
the bank under investigation is making extensive use of social media sites as interactive advertising platforms.
They just use their websites to keep their customers informed. As a result, for banks to be allowed to utilize their
websites as effective advertising tools, they must meet the criteria established for interactive and control medium.
On the subject of social media issues, banks advertisers are expected to be aware of the areas that may be
addressed, such as preventing unethical and anonymous individuals from accessing their platform. Furthermore,
only reputable and trustworthy material should be allowed on social media.
Banks should also examine their websites on a frequent basis to ensure that updated information is supplied
on a timely basis.
According to Eisenborg (2005), site improvement is a continuous process, not a one-time effort, and this
study advocates online surveys, focus group talks, and hiring a full-time analyst(s) as some of the imperatives.
According to Eisenberg, an increasing number of firms are discovering the value of critically examining their
website/website traffic and using the information to increase their earnings. Even though Eisenberg's concept is
almost a decade old, it still holds true, and advertisers would need a research staff (a full-time analyst or analysts)
to create insights from website visitors for site enhancement.

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